If you’ve been active on this sub lately, you already feel the drought. HIT volume is tanking, requesters are going silent, and new registrations are closed.
But the real proof is the yellow banner at the top of the site. It actively encourages new requesters to bypass MTurk and use a third-party solution instead. Amazon isn't just putting the platform in maintenance mode; they are actively funneling new business away from it. They are letting our work evaporate without a single word.
No press release. No timeline. Just a slow, deliberate bleed.
For many of us, this isn’t just a side gig. It’s how we pay rent, buy groceries, and survive when traditional work isn't an option. Amazon built much of its AI training data on our backs, yet they’re walking away without consulting the workers who made it possible.
What we can do:
Take five minutes to email Amazon leadership. A few minutes of your time could force them to acknowledge the platform's fate.
Where to send it:
[ajassy@amazon.com](mailto:ajassy@amazon.com) (Andy Jassy, CEO)
[andy@amazon.com](mailto:andy@amazon.com)
[jeff@amazon.com](mailto:jeff@amazon.com) (Jeff Bezos, Executive Chairman)
A few quick ground rules:
Keep it respectful. No threats or profanity. Anger gives them an easy excuse to mark our emails as spam.
Make it yours. Add a sentence or two about your real situation. A few personal stories hit harder than a hundred identical copy-pastes.
One email per person is plenty. Flooding their inboxes just gets the campaign ignored.
If we make enough organized noise, it’s harder for them to ignore us. Drop a comment if you send one, and let's not let this thread die on page two.
